How did we get here - Take 2

Not going to lie, last post got interrupted by an overwhelming need to sleep. (can't even blame the break on the baby as Meemaw - aka Grandma - took her so that we could catch some shut eye. thanks Meemaw!) So I did. And it was awesome.

Now we are back in Belgium. Here's a snapshot of part of the apartment:

Believe it or not, this is progress. It is also only 1/3 of the total bags that need to be unpacked.

Not sure if you can tell or not, but babycakes is a being a huge help in the unpacking process.

Babycakes helping me write AND unpack. 

Since I am having trouble coping with the (seemingly) monumental task of unpacking and coming to grips with the reality of being back in Belgium and 47 thousand miles from family, I think I'll continue where I left off in the last post...

- Between January 1st and January 11th, very little was accomplished by either Lou or myself as we waited on pins and needles for the baby's arrival. 

Actually, that's not true. Everyone else waited on pins and needles while I, believe it or not, was fairly content. As I saw it, the baby would come when she was good and ready and the longer she waited, the more time she would have to grow and develop. Besides, it gave me more time to prep what I could around the house and stock up on sleep. Had everyone I run into not asked, "Where is the baby???" or "How do you feel? Do you feel like the baby is coming soon??" it would have been a wholly relaxing period.

I think I'll save the in-depth story of Babycakes' arrival for another post, so, suffice to say that she made her appearance on January 11th at 3:47pm. 

She came complete with 10 fingers, 10 toes and a cute button nose:

Babycakes on her birthday, January 11, 2012

To be honest, everything after her arrival is a giant blur. We had many visits from family and friends which were not only heartwarming but incredibly helpful in that they reinforced that we had made the right decision in coming home to have her. As we spent time with siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins and old friends and they held her it all just... made sense.

I'm sure there were some exciting events between January 11 and our flight back to Belgium on March 2nd, but, at the moment I'm hard pressed to think of them. OH! I do have one - Lou's Dad & stepmom, Cindy, hosted a party at their house in Cleveland. In attendance were Lou's sisters, his brother, George, George's girlfriend since forever, Sam, and approximately 43 of his aunts & uncles from his dad's side. It was a really special opportunity for both babycakes (and myself in some instances) to meet family.

Well, it's now 4:18am (baby woke up not long after that last picture and insisted I pay attention to her rather than the computer) and - I think - she has finally fallen asleep. Since this jet lag is kicking us both in the butt, I suppose I'll try out that whole "sleep when the baby sleeps" thing. Night!